When blogs shake worlds

When this network of blogs was first created, with the idea in mind to foster intercultural exchange between Europe and Latin America on a grass roots basis, it was born as a plan B. We where thinking about cultural diplomacy initiatives to enhance the exchange between our two continents. Ideas ranged from organizing academic exchanges to 'real' bilateral exchanges and volunteer programs that were not exclusively tailored to European university students. Finally we decided to start out with a network of blogs first, since everyone would have enough time besides university studies and work to contribute something and we would ensure that the group stays in touch. But a recent example from Cuba shows that something that looks simple at first glance, like  a network of blogs, can stimulate a lot of movement and change.

In Cuba, about 200.000 people have access to the world wide web and until recently private persons were not even allowed to own a computer. Among the select few with Internet access an even smaller group of people has launched blogs on the everyday life in Cuba. One of them is Yoani Sanchez, a philologist and web designer from Cuba. She started to blog back in April 2007 (http://www.desdecuba.com/generaciony/) and updates her page from hotels, pretending to be a Spanish tourist since she is not allowed to have Internet access privately and the Internet cafés in Cuba are too expensive for natives to pay. 

Her blog is not political, on the contrary, she is focusing on the small things of everyday life. But in unfree countries even writing on everyday life becomes political. Since Fidel Castro was forced to pass on power to his brother Raúl due to health reasons, there is change in Cuba. Things change very slowly, admittedly, but it is a start. As Yoani Sanchez puts it: there has been no change in the circumstances, but in the minds of people. They are not as afraid to speak out as they were before. Yoanis blog is part of this slow and gradual change that starts in the heads of people and slowly, yet irresistibly leads to change of political regimes. The 20 years anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall two days ago, on Monday 9th of November 2009, reminds us how a change in mentality spreads among the population and finally tears down walls and shakes the world. Blogs, twitter and modern communications technologies nowadays enhance these processes, as the incidents in Iran after the rigged presidential elections showed.

Taking these developments into consideration it is not surprising that a blog in a country like Cuba can become very influential. Yoani Sanchez was listed as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world by the "Time" magazine in 2008. Additionally she was awarded Spains most important media prize Ortega y Gasset in the same year. Naturally this influence comes at a price in political systems like Cuba. Yoanis site has been blocked in Cuba since March 2008. Naturally she was also not allowed to leave the country in order to receive the Ortega y Gasset award in Madrid. The immigration authority in Cuba simply kept her passport when she requested the traveling permit. This weekend the regime apparently went even a step farther. Yoani Sanchez was abducted and beaten when she was on her way to a demonstration against violence in Havanna. According to Yoani the offenders where civilian agents of the Cuban secret service. One can only imagine how afraid the regime has to be of one simple blogger when they go to such lengths to try to shut her up.

Yoanis example clearly shows that blogs can stir things up in the modern world. Let's hope that we will be able to spread our network and do our part in creating understanding and cultural exchange between our continents. Clichés and ignorance remain strong in the Euro-Latin American relations, there is a lot to be done.